Man settles spitting suit with Burger King

A black Ohio trucker has settled his federal civil rights lawsuit against a Burger King franchise in northwestern Pennsylvania where he contends a white employee spit on his Whopper Jr. in 2008. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Glenn Goodwin, 47, said the incident happened early in the evening of Nov. 11, 2008, when he was on his way home from a freight-hauling job to Erie.

He said a female employee made his sandwich and wrapped it before sliding it down a metal chute so another server could give it to Goodwin.

Instead, a male employee grabbed the sandwich and stood with his back to Goodwin while a manager stood by as if he, too, were trying to shield some action, Goodwin said.

Goodwin contends the manager said “nice” as the worker handled the sandwich.

His lawsuit said Goodwin immediately suspected the worker had spit in his food, but Goodwin took it to his truck anyway because he didn’t believe anyone would do such a thing.

Goodwin returned to the restaurant and loudly cursed and complained before calling 911. He said he found saliva in his sandwich that seemed “extra wet” and smelled “disgusting,” which he later explained in his pretrial deposition was the smell of bad breath.

In refusing Burger King’s request to dismiss the lawsuit in May, the judge said “a reasonable jury could conclude that Caucasian customers at the Burger King restaurant received satisfactory food service while the plaintiff, the only minority person in the restaurant, did not.”